Sit Better and Be Healthier through Chiropractic and FMP!

Posted by: The Balancing Center

The Washington Post recently published an informative and helpful chart on the medical science behind the dangers of sitting for too long and how to offset and counter those effects.

Dr. Ken demonstrates correct seated posture.

Their recommendations are simple, sensible, and easy to incorporate into your workday or relaxation time. They are, however, are missing two other, important recommendations:

1. Visit your chiropractor for regular adjustments.

Regular adjustments not only get you and keep you out of pain--they also help keep your spine aligned and your body balanced. This means that while you’re sitting, you won’t be putting uneven pressure on isolated parts of your body. Regular adjustments also prime your body for health and activates its self-correcting nature. Remember, you are designed to be well!

2. Learn and implement the Foundational Movement Practices.

The Foundational Movement Practices, falling somewhere between exercise and yoga, are series of simple movements that retrain your body to sit, stand, and move better. The FMP also help you hold your spinal adjustments longer, which creates a stronger foundation for even more physical, mental, and emotional improvement. They are great to implement while you are at a desk job because they teach you how to locate and then engage the correct bones and muscles used in seated postures. The FMP can further alleviate chronic back and joint pains as you retrain your body’s muscle memory to engage in healthy, dynamic postures.

You can learn more about the FMP on our website or YouTube page, where we have PDF instructions as well as instructional videos.

Call the office today for an adjustment! You can even add 10 minutes to the end of your visit to get a hands-on FMP session!

They say sitting is the new smoking. And we say that it doesn’t have to be!

Spring has Sprung!

Posted by: Dr. Fedeli

    

June is such an energetic month and we see a lot of our patients increasing their activity levels as they enjoy the good weather. That’s why we thought it was time we had another conversation about...

Foundational Movement Practices!

You’ve heard about them. You’ve worked on them. And you love them...right? The truth is that many patients could use a refresher. There is so much new information to digest at The Balancing Center and something as compelling as the FMP program is definitely worth extra study. It’s our hope that this month we can all renew our commitment to Foundational Movement Practices in order  to maximize our energy, stay balanced, and get the most out of our workouts.

What are Foundational Movement Practices?

They are movement patterns and sequences that encourage your body and nervous system to re-calibrate and stay balanced. They teach you to navigate and move your body as it is anatomically designed to move so that your nervous system creates new and more balanced muscle memories. You will also gain a new sense of proper posture in everyday activities, such as sitting at your desk, standing in line, lifting things, and working out.

How do I learn them?

Your third visit to The Balancing Center is your introduction to FMP. In just ten minutes your doctor can teach you the exercises and help you practice them. Many of our patients enjoy such fabulous results that they schedule an FMP session for every visit. Any time you stop by our office you can request an illustrated packet describing the exercises in detail. These will help you practice at home.

Any additional resources?

So glad you asked! The doctors have created short videos demonstrating and explaining each exercise in the FMP sequence! These are incredible visual tools for patients who want to get the most out of their care at The Balancing Center. You can find these videos in the FMP section of our website.

What’s so great about these exercises?

Another excellent question! Foundational Movement Practices have helped many of our patients achieve breakthrough results, whether they are trying to get out of pain or maximize their day-to-day performance. Check out what some people have said about how FMP have helped maximize their care: Whitney's testimonial!

Experience amazing results by scheduling your Foundational Movement Practice session today!

During the month of June, refer a Friend and receive a FREE Foundational Movement Practice session on your next visit (a $45 value)!
Offer Ends June 30, 2013. 

Studies say sitting might be killing you, but we say it doesn’t have to

Posted by: Whitney Compton

As you know, we talk a lot about how important posture is.  Sitting, standing, walking, running, yoga-ing.  As many of you remember, Dr. Ken had a great article in Yoga Chicago (“The 90 Degree Solution”) a few years ago talking about ergonomics in your workplace.  We talk about posture a lot because many people underestimate how much your posture affects so many aspects of your life! Your energy, your digestion, your weight, your pain and discomfort, your attitude... all are affected by posture.

We do suggest you create time in your day for movement (getting a quick walk around the block or a mini FMP session would do wonders for you).  While studies are beginning to show that sitting has very negative health effects,  we know when it comes down to it, many of us have to sit longer than we really want. That is why at The Balancing Center we want to educate people on how to sit properly.  By learning this, you will negate these bad health effects and perpetuate better ones, like more energy!

Watch this fun, quick, easy video Dr. Taka found about how to simply adjust your sitting station, at the office or around the house- for ALL AGES!  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jbV5dGvJWyo

How Chiropractic Can Prevent Yoga From Wrecking Your Body

Posted by: Madelyn George

On January 5th The New York Times ran a fascinating and controversial article called “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body”. The article elicited a lot of angry responses from yogis, and probably did convince a lot of prospective yoga students to do something “less dangerous”. As I read through the article I admit it was pretty terrifying to read the stories of slipped discs and partial paralysis resulting from some of the more intense yoga poses, but I couldn’t help but wonder if some of the injuries might have been avoided if people had received care at The Balancing Center first.

Personally, I’m not going to stop doing yoga. The moral of the article was something much bigger than avoiding the practice as a whole. With yoga, like with any physical practice, injury is possible, but the biggest risk comes from tuning out the messages your body is sending to you. I plan to stay very present with my body, especially when practicing twists. When it feels like my body is saying “no”, I’ll listen. I hope you will too, and not just with yoga, but with any physical practice.

The care we provide at The Balancing Center is focused on getting people out of pain, improving performance, and improving lifestyle. As you can see from my chiropractic story, I was not in any pain when I started, but I was definitely out of balance. After my first few adjustments I noticed that I was able to perform all physical activity with greater ease and much less strain. Less strain means you’re less likely to get injured! We always tell people that you should keep coming in, even if you feel fine, because staying in balance can help you avoid injuries and pain in the future. It’s so true.

Regular adjustments aren’t the only thing that can improve your health and quality of life. The Balancing Center’s Foundational Movement Practices are a huge part of what makes our patients successful. In Dr. Fedeli’s words, “This is one of the main things we teach. It’s so important to learn how to use your body correctly, and we can teach you how to know when you’re pushing it too far. Our system is an incredible tool to help you sit and stand better, and the movement practices will definitely help you exercise more safely and effectively.”

Link to the original New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

A couple of interesting response articles:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suhag-a-shukla-esq/yoga-wont-wreck-your-body_b_1195754.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/14/yoga-can-damage-body-row?INTCMP=SRCH
http://www.firstpost.com/living/om-my-god-who-wrecked-our-yoga-the-dirty-picture-of-a-5-bn-dollar-industry-183391.html

Nine Steps to Sitting InTensegrity™

Posted by: Dr. Dan Fedeli


Just as shaking your computer mouse wakes up your computer, InTensegrity™ Procedures wake up your body and your nervous system. The goal of Sitting InTensegrity™ is to let the bones respond to the stress of gravity (your weight) instead of relying on your muscles to hold you up. Bones are made to bear weight while muscles are made to stabilize and move. When your body is functioning as it was designed, your system’s resources are freed up to do more of what you want.

1. Rock Forward - Using the same motion as the supine “Rock and Roll”, feel your weight shifting forward and backward as your lower back arches and rounds.

2. Pull the Shoulders Down first (toward the hips) and then Back (toward each other)[Click here for a 5 minute video]

3. Lean Forward - if your shoulders are down and back as your lean forward you will find a stopping point when your shoulders are over your center of gravity

4. Settle Back into the sit bones - without rocking and rolling the pelvis, move to the middle and then the back of the sit bones

5. Relax your stomach - take a breath in and out allowing your stomach to relax while performing a slight crunch with your rib cage (only enough to remove any hyperextension in your midback)

6. Release your neck - bend your head back (notice any tension/lack of motion), bend your head forward all the way, bend your head back again (you should notice more motion and less tension), then look straight ahead, tuck your chin slightly, and feel the length in the back of you neck

7. Internally Rotate the Hips - with feet flat on the floor 6 to 10 inches apart (about hip width) bring your knees over your heels (this settles your weight deeper into your sit bones)

8. Lean Back maintaining a sense of internal rotation in the hips

9. Enjoy the increased energy and comfort and get back to what you are supposed to be doing

Option B: Add a Forward Fold to step 1. “Rock and roll”, then fold forward onto your thighs letting your head and arms relax and hang. Arching your lower back lift from your head and chest to the forward sitting position. Repeat. Then continue by following steps 2 through 9.

Shoulders Down and Back

Posted by: Dr. Dan Fedeli

Check out our new video that demonstrates this important principal of tensegrity!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weK04BcYnA0&feature=youtu.be

Our mothers told us to pull our shoulders back...
Many yoga teachers suggest raising the shoulder up, then back and then down...
This video makes the case for Down First, Then Back:

• When the shoulders go down before they go back, they stop in their sockets and are available to move when you need them to.
• From the down and back position, it is easier to properly find and position your center of gravity
• This proper positioning of the center of gravity sets the stage for the pelvis and legs to support the body...instead of straining the back muscles.

“Shoulders should not be responsible for posture”

Watch this video and see how this principal shows up in three of our ‘Foundational Movement Practices’ .

Tensegrity

Posted by: Madelyn George

Fact: Balance of oppositional strain and tension allows us to function in the world. Though many people are trying to reduce and avoid strain and tension...it is actually the appropriate combination of these forces that support and propel us through life. The balance created by our care at The Balancing Center sets the stage for strain and tension to work in a productive and organized fashion. As a result, most of our patients learn an impressive new word as they begin their care: TENSEGRITY. Tensegrity is integral to what we do, but it’s also a mouthful with an interesting history.

“The term tensegrity was coined by Buckminster Fuller as a contraction of tensional integrity...Biological structures such as muscles and bones...are made strong by the unison of tensioned and compressed parts. The muscular-skeletal system is a synergy of muscle and bone. The muscles and connective tissues provide continuous pull[4] and the bones discontinuous push.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensegrity

In other words it is the precise interaction of pushing and pulling forces in our bodies that helps us achieve and maintain a balanced state. According to The Balancing Center, this dynamic truly does allow us to function better in the world

For the Esoterics at heart the term also appeared in the writings of mystical anthropologist Carlos Castaneda and his experiences with hallucinogenic ceremonies in central America. Castaneda had created a movement practice that combined engineering principles with very abstract ideas about human energy.

“The art of dreaming became for those shamans their most absorbing practice. In the course of that practice, they experienced unequaled states of physical prowess and well-being, and in their effort to replicate those states in their hours of vigil, they found out that they were able to repeat them following certain movements of the body. Their efforts culminated in the discovery and development of a great number of such movements...They created in this fashion, Tensegrity, which is a term proper to architecture that means ‘the property of skeleton structures that employ continuous tension members and discontinuous compression members in such a way that each member operates with the maximum efficiency and economy.’ This is a most appropriate name because it is a mixture of two terms: tension and integrity....”
http://www.cleargreen.com/english/purpose/tensegrity.cfm

WOW! Did you get all that? You might prefer to talk to our doctors about Tensegrity when you stop by our office. Here at 1165 N. Clark Street, we strive to achieve those unequaled states of physical well-being in our waking lives, while sharing these experiences with our patients.

Our experience at The Balancing Center is the vast majority of people are maintaining a high level of chronic tension in order to survive. Our ‘Foundational Movement Practices’ http://www.thebalancingcenter.com/services-fmp.htm are a lot more user friendly than shamanic journeys, and have clear, straightforward, positive effects on your health. It’s all part of our master plan to get you feeling amazing and achieving your goals.

The 90 Degree Solution (to Discomfort at Your Workstation)

Posted by: Dr. Ken Bennett

If you feel stress and strain after sitting at a desk all day, it’s possible your body is out of alignment. This article will help you align your body at your desk. Before we talk about how to set up an ergonomically efficient workspace, you need to understand how the body is designed to function. Your body (your bones) should be in proper alignment, which means that the hips are level to the ground, legs are equal in length, shoulders are level, the center of the top of your spine lines up directly over the center of your tailbone/sacrum and your head is level. This is important because only when the body is lined up properly can the joints move freely along their joint surfaces, muscles engage symmetrically and appropriately to move the bones and joints and the nerves freely and openly communicate messages between the brain and the target organ or muscle to perform a desired function. If your body is aligned and functioning properly, you should feel pretty good. Misalignment means muscles are unevenly tight, holding bones and joints out of position; joints grind or wear ’n’ tear when moving, creating inflammation; and nerves can be irritated, leading to dysfunction or interference in the ongoing conversation between your body and brain. Over time, misalignments lead to chronic symptoms, pain and loss of energy and vitality. A properly aligned workstation, when set up and used correctly, means that a majority of the things you do 40+ hours a week will no longer contribute as much to any symptoms you feel, both physical and mental. If there are two words to remember when setting up your workspace, they would be “90 degrees.” Here’s what to do:

• Clear out the area under the desk. You need room to move and stretch your legs.

• Adjust your chair height so your forearms are resting at 90 degrees on adjustable arm rests (if available), with your elbows at your sides and wrists straight and at the keyboard.

• When the chair is adjusted as described above, your feet should be resting flat on the floor with knees at 90 degrees.

If not, a footrest should be used.

• Use a lumbar support on the chair to help support the natural curvature of the lower spine.

• Sometimes desks are adjustable for height. If not, a one-time adjustment might be needed to fit your body size.

• Keyboard trays are another option when attempting to set your chair and desk height. Adjustable keyboard trays are a great way to set things at 90 degrees.

• The keyboard and the mouse should be directly in front of you and easily accessible when sitting as described above. Elbows should be at 90 degrees while typing or using the mouse.

• The monitor should be directly in front of you. The top of the monitor should be two to three inches above eye level.

• Use a lift if needed.

• Document holders should be used if needed.

• Use a headset if you are on the phone a lot.

• Phones, staplers, paper clips, and other items used regularly should be within arm’s length so you are not straining to reach them.

• Take a 10-minute break every 50 minutes to move and stretch.

• Stand up when you are on the phone.

• Sit up straight in your chair and perform pelvic tilts for a minute or two as you read or type.

• Look away from the monitor and let your eyes relax and refocus.

• Gently turn your head to the left and right a few times.

• Sit up straight, relax, and breathe. These are just a few suggestions that will help relieve a lot of the stress and strain of sitting at your desk all day. If your body is in proper alignment, these simple adjustments and stretches should decrease any strain you feel at the end of the day. If you find that these tips are not helping, it is probably because your body is misaligned. These workstation adjustments will help prevent things from getting worse, but there is an underlying cause that is still there. The most important thing to do when an underlying cause is present is to identify it, remove it, and watch the body realign and start to heal. In my office we help many people realign their bodies and lives every day. We offer complimentary introductory workshops on the first and third Wednesdays of every month to learn more about our services. Call the office and reserve your spot for the next one. We are also available to come to your office or home to discuss ergonomics and other health topics or perform health screenings. For additional information visit the following Web sites:ergo.human.cornell.edu/ergoguide.html (ergonomics) thebalancingcenter.com/handouts.html (exercises and information)